1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of networked computer systems. Specifically, the present invention relates to the field of displaying objects and cursor movements among a plurality of networked users.
2. Description of Related Art
A set of personal computers interconnected on a network can be effectively used as a conferencing system. In such a system, each conference participant comprises a personal computer user having a computer, a display screen, a computer network interface, and typically a mouse or cursor movement device. Conference participants are linked together over a computer network or other data communications medium. This network may comprise either a hard wired local area network (LAN) such as Ethernet, a telephone modem link, or other conventional data communications network. Because the conference participants are linked via a computer network, the participants do not need to be located in the same physical space. Rather, an effective conference may be carried out as participants view common information over their display screens and manipulate the information using their cursor devices or other input devices.
Several problems with these conferencing systems exist in the prior art. Conventional conference participants typically have a cursor movement device, such as a mouse or trackball device, connected to their system. This cursor movement device provides a means for moving a visible cursor symbol around on the user's computer display screen. In this manner, a user may manipulate a local cursor symbol. It is also advantageous for a conference participant to manipulate a cursor or pointing symbol on the display screen of other conference participants. In this manner, a first conference participant can manipulate a remote cursor symbol on the display screen of a second conference participant using the cursor movement device of the first conference participant's computer system. A remote cursor can be effectively used as a conference pointing mechanism. In other situations, various conventional drawing tools or textual input tools provided by a personal computer can be used by a first conference participant and displayed to all of the conference participants. Prior art systems, however, do not provide an effective means for displaying to a local user when the actions of a cursor or selected tool are either visible or not visible to other conference participants. Although some conventional systems provide a means for turning on or turning off the remote display of cursor movement, these systems do not have an effective means for displaying this selection to a local user. Moreover, it is cumbersome to require a user to select a local or remote display mode prior to the initiation of any action in a conferencing environment.
Thus, a better means for providing feedback of remote cursor movement and tool operation in a conferencing system is needed.